Meath News

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Opposing sides clash during
abortion rallies in Dublin

There were confrontational
scenes in Dublin city centre today as opposing sides of the abortion debate
held demonstrations in the capital.

Ahead of the annual
All-Ireland Rally for Life organised by a coalition of anti-abortion groups, a
counter-demonstration was held by pro-choice activists on O’Connell Street on
Saturday afternoon at the interface between the two factions.

A large Garda presence lined
the street beside the Spire in an attempt to keep the groups separated, as
marchers representing Youth Defence, The Life Institute and Precious Life were
greeted by chants of “Pro-life, that’s a lie, you don’t care if women die” and
“Anti-women, anti-gay, pro-life bigots go away”.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

ODonnell Eviction Gorse Hill

Retired solicitor Brian O’Donnell and his wife have left their former family home in Killiney, Dublin ahead of their eviction.

Under a court-imposed ORDER they must vacate the property by noon on Wednesday.

Earlier they had removed their belongings in a furniture removal van and in boxes placed in car driven by a family friend.

Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell has left Gorse Hill in advance of Noon possession by Bank Of Ireland.

Brian O'Donnell gives Gorse Hill Keys to Bank of Ireland

Solicitor Brian O’Donnell has dropped the keys of his former house Gorse Hill onto a desk in front of Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher prior to the start of the bank’s AGM.

He walked up to where Mr Boucher was sitting and dropped the keys to Gorse Hill onto his desk, without addressing him.

Mr O’Donnell attended the bank’s annual general meeting only hours after leaving his Gorse Hill mansion in Killiney for the last time, a house worth €30 Million at the height of the boom.

Dumb and Dumber

While Brian O'Donnell was handing over his keys to Gorse Hill to Bank of Ireland, Jerry Beades was posting a notice on the gate at Gorse Hill stating that Bank of Ireland has no entitlement to the keys of Gorse Hill, all of which shows that Dumb and Dumber is much more than a movie.

The New Land League

The self-styled ‘The New Land League’ which has been heavily criticised for taking money from vulnerable people, has been using the O’Donnell’s case to gain publicity for its Millionaire Gambler Leadership including Jerry Beades. The New Land League is lead by people who borrowed millions, gambled that money and now want a return on their beaten docket. Their membership includes Cowboy Builders who left many people homeless.

The main ‘tactic’ being used by ‘The New Land League’ is ‘Delay Litigation’, this is simply a tactic which delays the return of assets to The Tax Payer who now own most of The Irish Banks.

The tactics of ‘The New Land League’ means that the Banks do not have the money to do deals with ordinary decent people who have simply got into Mortgage difficulty due to personal circumstances.

People have been advised not to give money to ‘The New Land League’ as such money is not being audited and could end up being used by very dis-honest people.

Mr O’Donnell was driven away from Gorse Hill at 9.37am by Jerry Beades of the self-styled Land League, Mr Beades is a Shameless self-profiler.

Bank of Ireland AGM Latest

Mr O’Donnell is expected to attend the Bank of Ireland AGM at 11am. His wife Mary, left the property at around 9am after placing a number of items into a car driven by a family friend.

Earlier, John Martin of the new Land League said most of the family’s belongings were now gone “apart from a few personal possessions”.

Asked how the O’Donnells were feeling Mr Martin replied: “We are all human”.

Mr O’Donnell and members of the new Land League are understood to have secured voting rights at the AGM, where they are expected to criticise management of the bank over the repossession of Gorse Hill.

A number of members of the Land League remain on the property and are expected to stay there until noon. A large number of reporters are outside the property.

O’Donnell Legal Case

The eviction is likely to mark the end of a long-running legal process which started when seen Bank of Ireland appointed Tom Kavanagh as receiver in 2012 in an effort to recover a €71.5 million judgment from 2011 against Mr O’Donnell and his wife, Mary Patricia.

That application was unsuccessfully resisted in proceedings involving the couple’s four children.

The O’Donnell parents moved back into Gorse Hill last February after their children vacated it in line with court orders.

O’Donnells’ High Court Order

A possession order was subsequently granted to the bank by the High Court.

This was appealed to the Court of Appeal which dismissed the couple’s bid to prevent receivers from taking possession but granted a stay on the possession injunction to April 29th to allow them seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday a three-judge Supreme Court refused an application for a stay on the High Court injunction granted last March requiring them to leave the property at Gorse Hill, Vico Road, by noon today.

They sought the stay pending their Supreme Court application for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal decision, made earlier this month, refusing to overturn the injunction.

In a Supreme Court application last Monday, the O’Donnells argued their appeal centred on issues of public importance which should be determined in the public interest, including issues concerning the refusal of the High Court judge, Mr Justice Brian McGovern, to recuse himself.

Other issues included arguments that their case related to the ability of banks and receivers to obtain a mandatory order to gain possession of a family home rather than issue proceedings for possession and having a full hearing.

In opposing any stay, Bank of Ireland argued the case raised no novel legal issues.

The three-judge Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham, Mr Justice John MacMenamin, and Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, refused the application. Their 10-page determination said issues were raised by the O’Donnells which could not form part of the leave application and the court could only address issues arising from the Court of Appeal decision of April 15th last.

Court of Appeal

It ruled that the Court of Appeal had applied well-established principles in its refusal to overturn the High Court injunction, and the O’Donnells had not raised issues of general public importance entitling them to an appeal.

It said the O’Donnells had not shown a Supreme Court appeal was necessary in the interests of justice, and had not made out a legal point relating to the High Court judge’s refusal to recuse himself.

Delay Litigation Tactic Rejected

It also rejected various other grounds raised, and said the O’Donnells received a “full hearing” in the High Court, followed by a full appeal to the Court of Appeal. There could not be a further appeal to the Supreme Court unless certain parameters were met, the court said. Nor was there any basis for a reference of issues to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Contempt of Court in Other Cases

A farmer, his wife and
several others, including anti-eviction activist Ben Gilroy, could be jailed
for alleged interference with a receiver appointed over lands in Co Kildare.

Paul O’Shea spent two weeks
in jail when he was previously found in contempt of court orders restraining
interference with receiver George Maloney’s attempts to sell lands owned by Mr
O’Shea at Davidstown, Castledermot.

Mr O’Shea was released by a
High Court judge earlier this month after giving a sworn undertaking to purge
his contempt and comply with court orders. The matter was adjourned on certain
conditions to progress matters.

When the matter returned
before Mr Justice Paul Gilligan yesterday, lawyers for Mr Maloney said there
was ongoing interference.

Loan in default

Mr Maloney was appointed in
September 2012 by Danske Bank as receiver over two large fields Mr O’Shea put
up as security on a 2003 loan which went into default. The bank obtained
judgment for €1.29 million against Mr O’Shea in March 2013.

In an affidavit, Mr Maloney
said he and his agents had been intimidated, threatened with violence and put
under surveillance when on the land.

Due to the interference, the
receiver said he intended to seek the attachment and committal to prison of Mr
O’Shea, his wife, Emer, and several others, including Mr Gilroy, who, he said,
were giving advice to those preventing him carrying out his duties.Mr Maloney
said Mr O’Shea and Mr Gilroy were “toying” with the court.

Keywords: ODonnell Eviction, Bank of Ireland, Gorse Hill, The New Land League, High Court

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Irish Economy

The Budget deficit last year was 4.1pc of the value of the
economy, missing the Government's forecast in the Budget, according to official
data from the Central Statistics Office.

The figure was broadly in line with expectations in recent
months, in part because of extra spending in Health and Justice.

The deficit data comes a week before Finance Minister
Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin are
due to unveil the so-called spring statement in the Dáil, which will include
revised economic forecasts that are thought to reflect the better than expected
tax revenues.

In October, the Department of Finance had estimated the
deficit would narrow to 3.7pc of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014.

However, the deficit figure still remains significantly
within the 5.1pc target the Government needed to meet under European rules.

Earlier this year the Department of Finance said the Budget
deficit would be slightly worse for 2014 than forecast last October because of
overruns in Health and extra pay approved for gardaí and prison officers.

In addition, money was set aside to deal with storm repairs
caused by extreme weather early last year and a pension package for the workers
of Waterford Wedgwood.

Both ministers Noonan and Howlin will make separate
statements back-to-back in the Dáil next Tuesday from 2pm, similar to the
routine on Budget day. However, neither minister will outline specific tax or
spending measures.

Instead, it is expected they will focus broadly on policy
direction, while outlining the constraints within which they must still
operate.

"Anybody that is expecting to get budgetary measures
announced will be disappointed," a spokesman for the Department of Finance
said.

The CSO said yesterday that the deficit was €7.63bn last
year, an improvement on the 2013 position of €10.15bn.

Government revenue increased by over 6pc to €64.7bn in 2014,
while expenditure increased by 1.7pc to €72.3bn over the same period.

Government debt stood at 109.7pc of GDP last year, or
€203.3bn. A spokesman for the Department said the deficit figure was in line
with what was expected. Goodbody stockbrokers predicted the budget deficit will
fall to below 2pc this year as tax revenues come in more than €2bn ahead of
target for the year.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

St Peters, Castlepollard,
Disability, Westmeath care home, abuse

Care-worker Convicted

In February 2014, a HSE 'Care-worker' was convicted before the Circuit Criminal Court in Meath of sexually abusing a child in HSE care, that abuser was supported before, during and after his conviction for paedophile activity by his HSE work colleagues, some of whom had helped conceal the abuse of the child for 20 years, today we have more horror stories from Westmeath.

St Peters, Castlepollard

A HSE-run care unit for
people with disabilities was told to cease admissions and transfer residents
that it was unable to care for following a highly critical inspection report.

Inspectors from the Health
Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) conducted an unannounced inspection of
St Peter’s Services in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath last December following
concerns over the safety and welfare of residents.

Its report highlights a
range of concerns including unexplained bruising on some residents, a lack of
trained staff and poor access to meaningful activities.

Residents were also forced
to use commodes on a daily basis because the toilets were unsuitable.

State of disrepair

One of the two community
houses which inspectors visited was found to be in a state of disrepair and was
unsuitable to meet the needs of residents.

In all there were 36
breaches of care regulations identified during the inspection.

Among the other concerns
highlighted were:

* Governance and management
systems in the designated centre were “weak and ineffective”.

* There was no formal
induction plan in place for staff and they did not have relevant knowledge to
support the residents.

* Some residents had unexplained
bruising; while the injuries were documented, there was no evidence that
procedures for protecting vulnerable adults from abuse were followed.

* Staff members had not
received training to administer medication required for some residents.

* There was an absence of
appropriate supports for residents with challenging behaviour.

* There was poor access to
the local community as a result of understaffing at the centre.

* There was also no staff
supervision in place or assessment of competency of staff. * Toilet facilities
were too narrow and staff used en-suite toilets for themselves; this impacted
negatively on the dignity of residents.

In a statement, the HSE said
a working group was tackling all the actions that needed to be addressed
following the inspection.

Governance structures

It said the governance
structures had been strengthened and an investigation has also been carried out
into the reported incidents of unexplained bruising.

The executive said Hiqa’s
findings were unacceptable, and it would continue to work with the authority to
improve safety and quality of services.

This latest inspection
report followed another inspection of St Peter’s a month previously, which also
highlighted concerns over the care and welfare of residents.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Supreme Court Ruling

Supreme Court brings down the curtain on ‘delay litigation’, over the past number of years The High Court, Commercial Court, Appeals Court and indeed The Supreme Court have been used as ‘tools’ of ‘delay litigation’. Almost identical to the Modus Operandi of Jail-House-Lawyers, many Cowboy Builders and Property Speculators have learned a few tricks of the legal trade and have abused them in abundance, these abuses have seen fraudsters and in many instances criminals, continuing to profiteer from business operations that should long since have been called in, due to their attachment to Toxic Loans.

Delay litigation has been tolerated due to the desire of the Superior Courts to ensure that ‘justice’ is seen to be done, however, as Ireland begins the recovery process, it is essential that the cancerous growth of ‘delay litigation’ is cut clean off our Judicial system, so that a new generation may breath live back into a badly beaten economy.

Bank of Scotland

A couple have lost their Supreme Court appeal against a decision that Bank of Scotland Plc was entitled to recover some €4 million from them arising from unpaid loans made for property development purposes and to appoint a receiver over certain properties.

Patrick and Roseann McLaughlin, of Foxrock, Dublin, had, in their appeal, argued the 2010 cross-border merger between Bank of Scotland (BOS) and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BOSI) did not involve the transfer of any securities held by BOSI to BOS.

Their appeal was given a priority hearing by the Supreme Court because, if that argument was upheld, it would have what Mr Justice Frank Clarke described as a “profound” effect on the position of BOS and would also potentially impact other cross-border mergers.

In unanimous judgments yesterday, the three-judge Supreme Court dismissed the McLaughlins’ argument. It ruled that the security held by BOSI over the McLaughlins’ properties was an “asset” of BOSI within the meaning of the relevant 2005 EC Directive on cross-border mergers, which had passed to BOS on the coming into effect of the relevant merger.

The court also refused as unnecessary the couple’s application to have issues, including the meaning of the word “assets” in the 2005 EC Directive, referred to the European Court of Justice for determination.

Decision upheld

Based on that and other findings, the court upheld a High Court decision BOS was entitled to recover some €4.06 million from the couple arising from the loans dating from 2008 and had validly appointed Tom Kavanagh receiver over certain properties on which various loan facilities were secured.

In their appeal, the couple also claimed they had had an arrangement with BOSI that it would not call in the relevant loans until their residence, “Latona”, Torquay Road, Foxrock, had been sold. They said that they intended to move to smaller accommodation and took out a bridging loan to buy another property at Kerrymount Rise, Foxrock.

Dismissing that point, Mr Justice Clarke said if the evidence was that there may have been “some sort of vague understanding or acceptance” by the parties some latitude might be given to the couple if there was difficulty selling Latona.

However, the judge said there was no evidence to establish a legal obligation on the part of the bank to refrain from calling in the loan until Latona was sold.

The judge also said there was also no evidence to suggest BOSI/BOS ever agreed, as the couple claimed, to forego any entitlement to recover any shortfall if the property was sold for a sum insufficient to clear the loans.

The judge said that the issue was not whether it might or might not have made business sense for the lender to wait, as “it probably did”. The issue was rather whether the lender was “legally obliged” to wait, and it was not.

The court said another issue, also of potentially wider significance, was whether the failure to specifically register BOS as the new registered owner of charges originally executed in favour of BOSI meant, at least where registered lands were affected, neither BOS nor the receiver could enforce the charge.

In her judgment specifically addressing that point, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy said she was satisfied, as a matter of contract, BOS had power independent of the provisions of the 1964 Registration of Title Act to appoint the receiver under the terms of a 2006 charge between the couple and BOSI.

Ms Justice Laffoy held that although BOS was not registered as owner of the 2006 charge, the receiver was validly appointed.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Love Ulster Parade Dublin 2015

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said those taking part in the planned "Love Ulster" parade in Dublin next month, should respect the feelings and sensitivities of the people who live in the areas in which they are parading.

Speaking in Dublin ahead of a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, Theresa Villiers said any such march needed to be peaceful and lawful.

Ms Villiers is in Dublin to discuss the Stormont House Agreement, which she described as a big step forward.

She said it has resolved some very important budget questions, while making real progress in relation to flags, parades and the past.

She acknowledged that there is a lot to do to fully implement it but said the British government were working faithfully to do that.

Ms Villiers also said that she would be engaging with any new owners of Aer Lingus about the importance of the Heathrow slots.

She said she would make the case for retention of flights from Belfast to Heathrow, Dublin to Heathrow and other regional connections because of they are strategically very important.

Asked about the consequences for Northern Ireland if her party is re-elected and proceeds with plans to hold a referendum on EU membership, Ms Villiers said she would not speculate on the outcome of that ballot.

But she said she was confident that British Prime Minister David Cameron would get a revised deal that would bring reform.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Garda Adrian Donohoe, Murder, Appeal 2015

Gardaí have issued a fresh appeal for information into the death of Garda Adrian Donohoe who was shot dead during an armed robbery in Co Louth two years ago today.

The 41-year-old was shot dead during an armed robbery at the Lordship Credit Union in 2013.

His killers remain at large.

But gardaí say they are determined to bring those behind the murder of their colleague to justice.

This morning his widow Caroline, his two children, colleagues and the community of Bellurgan were joined by Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan to mark his anniversary at St Joseph's Church in Dundalk.

The Garda Commissioner said very significant progress had been made in the investigation into the murder of Garda Donohoe.

She said the force needed to get things 100% right before those responsible could be brought to justice.

She said gardaí had full co-operation from the PSNI and forces in other jurisdictions.

However, she said there are people in the community who have significant information that could help the investigation and she called on them to have the courage to come forward.

Gardaí say they are determined to bring those behind the murder of their colleague to justice.